Leading in a Lonely World Podcast: Meet Jamie Pagliaro, a Leader Who has Made His “Passion” for Helping Others His Life’s Work
Top 10 Actions (or Inactions), that Spur Special Education Impartial Hearing Requests for School Districts
Third Circuit Upholds Award of Attorneys’ Fees Despite Student’s Loss Before Administrative Law Judge - Augustyn v. Wall Twp. Bd. of Educ., No. 23-3156, 2025 WL 1352259 (3d Cir. May 9, 2025) - The student was unsuccessful...more
In its recently adjourned session, the General Assembly passed two major bills regarding special education. Although the Governor has not yet signed these bills, we wanted to provide a brief and non-exhaustive overview of the...more
A New Initiative to Support Transition from Early Intervention to Kindergarten - The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) and the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) jointly launched a new initiative known...more
On April 21, 2025, New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) Commissioner Kevin Dehmer testified before the Assembly Budget Committee to present the Department’s FY 2026 budget proposal. The proposal outlines a $22.2 billion...more
Court Allows Supplementation of Record in Special Education Appeal, Weighing Child Find Obligations. Q.H. by and through Regan H. v. Scranton School Dist., 2025 WL 419529 (M.D. Pa. Feb. 6, 2025)...more
Generally, independent schools intentionally refrain from participating in the majority of federal funding programs, preserving their ability to ensure the educational program is provided in a manner that is reflective of...more
Due to the situation-specific nature of parental involvement in educational decisions, nonparticipation in one decision due to a procedural inadequacy is not automatically a major barrier to a parent’s input in the overall...more
A.N. v. Upper Merion Area School District, 2022 WL 3371612 (E.D. Pa. Aug. 16, 2022). The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania upheld a hearing officer’s award of 5.5 hours of compensatory...more
Bricker attorneys Melissa Bondy and Katy Osborn will discuss ODE’s proposed changes to the Special Education Operating Standards and special education issues facing districts as they resume in-person instruction....more
In the wake of Governor Pritzker’s recent order requiring all Illinois schools to close between March 17 and March 30, many schools and school districts have been left guessing how to best serve students with disabilities and...more
As you are all aware, a basic educational requirement in the State of Connecticut is that each school district must make a minimum of 180 days of instruction available to students each school year. ...more
Once again, the Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (“OSERS”) has weighed in on the rights of school districts to limit outside evaluators from accessing school classrooms. The...more
The 2017 Regular Session of the Connecticut General Assembly concluded at midnight, June 7, 2017, without accomplishing its most important task (passing a budget). As such, the General Assembly will eventually have to convene...more
On October 22, 2016, the US Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (“OSEP”), via its latest informal guidance/opinion letter (“Letter to Carroll”), once again addressed whether, once a school...more
The U.S. Department of Education (“ED”) recently issued a second Dear Colleague Letter interpreting the Every Student Succeeds Act (“ESSA”), which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (“ESEA”) and...more
During a brief altercation in Dashiell Hammett’s classic novel, The Maltese Falcon, the protagonist, Sam Spade, warns one of his antagonists that “when you’re slapped, you’ll take it and like it.” That is much the same...more